Wenigenburg, Medieval castle ruin in Amöneburg, Germany.
Wenigenburg, also called Brickberg, is the ruin of a hilltop castle at 317 m above sea level on the hill south of the Amöneburg, roughly 50 m below that summit, above the town of Amöneburg in central Hesse. Surviving are parts of the rampart, the neck ditch, the palas, the ring wall, two cellars with a staircase and the foundations of the square keep.
The castle appears in records first in 1248 as 'pervus castrum' and functioned as an outer fortress protecting Amöneburg. Its importance declined after the Landgraves took control in 1280.
The name Wenigenburg means "small castle", matching the Latin "pervus castrum" of the 1248 and 1267 charters. Matthäus Merian labelled the site Brickberg on his 1655 view of Amöneburg, and that second name is still used. The ruins were reconstructed in 1985.
The ruins are accessible year-round and can be viewed freely from outside. The path uphill is steep, but the view of the surrounding landscape makes the climb worthwhile.
The castle was never owned outright by the Schenk von Schweinsberg or the counts of Schlitz genannt von Görtz: it was pledged to them, from 1347 to 1463 and from 1463 to 1469 respectively. In 1640, during the Thirty Years' War, a siege battery was set up inside the already ruined walls.
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